The name of the message tonight
is None Like That. None Like That. And our text
tonight will be in 1 Samuel chapter 21. We'll be reading verses 1
to 9 with our text coming from verse 9, but a little historical
background in the chapter before this. Jonathan is warning David that
Saul was going to harm David, had intentions to harm David.
And so David's on the run. He's on the run from Saul. And David comes to the priests,
Ahimelech, to find shelter, food, and a weapon. And David found
food and shelter at the tabernacle, which was located in Nob, look
at verse 1, and David came to Nob, to Hemelech the priest,
and Hemelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto
him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? Now this city, Nob, is of Benjamin,
and it's where the tabernacle was. It's where the tabernacle
was. 1 Samuel 21, verse 1. Then came David's knob to Ahimelech,
the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David.
So the priest was there, but David had no sword, no sword. But there was a sword in the
tabernacle. There was a sword in the tabernacle.
And it was the sword that David had used to cut off Goliath's
head. And we'll see that later on as
we read this 1st Samuel 21 verses 1. Let's go over to 1st Samuel
17. Though we're going to read this first and the sword that
hung on Goliath's side. And Goliath was a mighty man
of the Philistines. The sword was in the tabernacle,
this very sword, and he is the one who challenged the host of
Israel. He challenged the host of Israel.
Look in 1 Samuel 17, and look at verse 4, we see Goliath identified. And there went out a champion.
So Goliath is a champion. out of the camp of the Philistines,
named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits in span.
So he's a man of great stature. He was a man of great stature.
And the host of Israel, we see he challenged the host of Israel.
Look at verses eight to 11. And Saul and all his soldiers
were afraid. They were afraid of him. Look
at 1 Samuel 17, verses eight to 11. And he stood and cried unto the
armies of Israel and said unto them, why are ye come out to
set your battle in a ray? Am not I a Philistine and ye
servants of Saul? Choose your man for you and let
him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me
and to kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail
against him and kill him, Then shall ye be our servants and
serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight
together. So he's out there defying the
armies of Israel. When Saul and Israel heard these
words, look at this, the words of the Philistine, they were
dismayed and greatly afraid. And these were soldiers. And
they were afraid of him. They were greatly afraid of him.
Now look down at verses 40 to 51. And we see David going forth
to face the giant. David going forth to face the
giant. And he took his staff in his hand and chose him five
smooth stones of the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag,
which he had even in the script. And his sling was in his hand
and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on and
drew near unto David, and the man that bare the shield went
before him. And when the Philistine looked
about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth,
and ready and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto
David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And
the Philistine cursed David by his God. So here's a man of war,
a man of great stature, and a man of war. standing before David. And to him, David's nothing.
He's faced other men without fear. And now he sees that a
young boy's coming out. But you see, it's not by might nor power,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord, right? That's how God's enemies
are destroyed. It's not by our might, it's not
by our power, but it's by the power of God. It's by the power
of God. And the Philistine said to David,
come to me and I will give thy flesh into the fowls of the air
and the beasts of the field. So he's mocking David. Then said
David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and
with a spear. Look at this marvelous verse. But I come to thee in
the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,
whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into mine hand. Now David knows. David knows
all about the sovereignty of God. He's been taught. Remember, David's a shepherd
boy, so he'd sit down at night and look at the stars and ponder
the great things of God. And think, they didn't have no
streetlights like we have nowadays, so could you imagine sitting
there in a field and looking up and just seeing the star canopy. I remember a long time ago being
with my daughter and we were up at a lake and we looked up
there and you could see the Milky Way. It took your breath away. And David had studied the Word
of God. He was a student of the Word
of God. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hands.
So David goes forth not in confidence in himself, does he? No, he's
going forth confidently in the Lord. Knowing that the Lord's
with him. knowing that the Lord will deliver
the Philistine into his hand. And I will smite thee and take
thine head from thee. And I will give the carcass of
the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air,
to the wild beasts in the earth, that all the earth may know that
there is a God in Israel." Now notice in verse 43, the Philistine
cursed David by his little g-gods. Notice here, in verse 46, that
there is a God in Israel, one God, one God. In all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, now here we
go, for the battle is the Lord's. Now that's a good verse for us
to remember, beloved. That's a good verse, and he will
give you into our hands. So it's not by might nor power,
but by my spirit. The power belongs to the Lord.
And this is good for us to remember no matter what comes our way. And it came to pass when the
Philistines arose and came to draw nigh to meet David that
David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine and
David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and
slung it, and smote the Philistine in the head. And the stone sank
into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. That
was a divinely slung stone, and that stone was
divinely directed right into Goliath, right into his forehead. And it's the Lord that, we know
it. We know it's the Lord who gives
life and it's the Lord who takes life, isn't it? And this was
his appointed time. This was Goliath's appointed
time. And now a certain man of the
servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord,
and his name was Doeg, and Edomite, the chiefest of the hurt men
that belonged to Saul. And David said unto Ahimelech, Oh, I went off into the next
chapter. I'm sorry, you guys. I went off
into the next chapter there. And David put his hand in the
bag, and took a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine
in the head, that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell
upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine
with a sling, and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and
slew him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore
David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword,
and drew it out of the seat thereof, and slew him, and cut off his
head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion
was dead, they fled. Now turn over to 1st Samuel 21. 1st Samuel 21. Now this sword
that's mentioned there, the sword of Goliath, we'll see a few chapters
over here in 1st Samuel 21 verses 1 to 9. It was at the holy place. It was at the tabernacle. Then
David came to Nob to Hamilet the priest. 1st Samuel 21 verse
1. And Hamelach was afraid at the
meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and
no man with thee? And David said to Hamelach the
priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath sent
unto me. Let no man know anything of the
business, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee,
and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. So
David fled, and he fled without his weapon. When he fled from
Saul's presence, he fled without his weapon. Now therefore, what is under
thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what
there is present, verse three. And the priest answered David
and said, there is no common bread under mine hand, but there
is hollow bread, if the young men have kept themselves at least
from women. And David answered the priest
and said unto him, of a truth, women have been kept from us
about these three days since I came out, and the vessels of
the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common,
yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the
priest gave him hallowed bread, there was no bread there but
the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot
bread in the day when it was taken away. Now a certain man
of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the
Lord and his name was Doeg and Edomite, the chiefest of the
herdsmen that belonged to Saul. And David said to Ahimelech,
And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? For I have
neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the
king's business required haste. So he left so quickly that he
didn't bring his weapons. And the priest said, the sword
of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of
Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod.
If thou wilt take that, Take it, for there is no other save
that here. And David said, look at this,
and this is our text right here at the very end. There is none
like that, give it me. There is none like that, give
it me. So David, having killed Goliath,
in chapter 17 now has Goliath's sword in chapter 17, but he doesn't
take it to his place of residence, beloved. Most men would, if they
slew a giant like Goliath, they would take the sword as a prize,
wouldn't they? And they'd put it in their house and they'd
glory over it, wouldn't they? They'd say, well, look, this
sword, I killed Goliath and I got this sword. David didn't do that.
David took the sword to the tavern. where God gets all the glory.
Where God gets all the glory, beloved. And put it in the holy
place. Because it's God who had this
come about. And God gets all the glory. And
note here, David flees to the tabernacle, where the tabernacle
is. And there is the sword of Goliath. And remember, this would
be a sort of remembrance for David, wouldn't it? It'd be a
sort of remembrance for him. He would remember that it was
God who delivered Goliath into his hands. And he would remember
that it's neither by might nor power of his own flesh. And let us remember that, that
when we go through things and trials and tribulations and we're
delivered through them, it's not by our might. It's not by
our power. God delivers us through those
things. And so David would remember this. He would remember going
up before Goliath. And he'd see that sword, and
he'd say, they're not like that sword. This was the sword of
Goliath, the Philistine champion. But David, again, gives God all
the glory by having it placed there, in the tabernacle. And the only way we can overcome
our enemies, and the only way David could overcome his enemies,
is by the Spirit of God, by the power of God. So let us learn
a great lesson here, not to take things into our own hands. We
all do that. We all do that. But here's a
great lesson for us, not to take things into our own hands. When
things come up in our lives, let us go to the Lord in prayer.
Let us seek the Lord. Let us plead for his help. And
let us ask for grace and strength in our time of need. And let
us seek comfort in this word right here. This is where we
get comforted, isn't it? We read the Word, we read about
our Savior. We read about the great things
that He's done. We read about the great deliverances, how He's
delivered His people time and time and time again. And we say,
I'm one of His people. And we know, looking in our lives,
He's delivered us. He delivers, and He continues
to deliver us, doesn't He? And it's wonderful, and we find
great comfort in this. Great comfort in the blessed
book. Why? Because it points us to Christ. It points us to
Christ. This book's all about him. He's
the object of our faith and he's the center of this book. It centers around him. Call to
mind the previous experiences and grasp the old sword, the
word of God, and trust. Trust the same unchanging God
that it proclaims. The one who again has delivered
his people and proved his faithfulness. Proved his faithfulness. Cling
to our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So David, knowing
the soundness of that weapon, says this, there is none like
that. Give it me. He knows the soundness of this
weapon. He's a soldier. We know the soundness of this
book, don't we? Give it me. Give it me. Oh my. And David says, there's none
like that. Think of this in reference to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Think of this in reference to God's word. Think of this
in reference to our Lord and Savior. There's none like that. There's none like that. So our
first point I'd like to consider is this. In reference to these
words, there is none like that. In regards to his word. In regards
to this book. There's none like that. Give
it to me. None like that. Now, there have
been many books that's been written. Many books which have been written
all through the years. But the author of every one of
those books is a man. He's a man. How is the word of
God different? Well, let us consider the author
of the word of God. Scripture says in 1 Timothy 3.16,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God. This book is a different
book than any other book in this world because the author of this
book is God. He's God. Over in the Old Testament, the
scriptures declare this in 2 Samuel 23.2, the spirit of the Lord
spake by me and his word was in my tongue. Turn, if you would,
to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. All other books are man-made
at best. But the author of this wonderful
book, this wonderful book, the Bible, is God. God the Holy Spirit is the author
of this blessed book. He moved men. He moved men to
write these words. And they wrote what He wanted
them to write. Look at 2 Peter 1, verses 1 to
21. We have a more sure word of prophecy
where until you do well that you take heed is unto a light
that shineth in the dark place until the day dawn and the day
star arise in your heart. Knowing this first that no prophecy
of the scriptures of any private interpretation For the prophecy
came not in old times by the will of man, but holy men of
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. There's the
author of the book. The Holy Spirit of God, 2 Peter
1, verses 19 to 21. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1, 21. Now the Word of
God, turn if you would to Hebrews 4. The Word of God is likened
to a sword, beloved. It's likened to a sword. Now
consider this. When David saw that sword, he
said, there's none like this. There's none like this. None
like that, give it me. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12.
Scripture declares, for the word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
ascender of soul and spirit, into the joints and marrow and
is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We
know from Ephesians that the word of God is the sword of the
spirit. The sword of the spirit. Now
some people will say, how can you say that a book's a sword?
How can you say that a book's a sword? Well, we who believe
know that this is the sword of the Spirit because we've experienced
it, haven't we? We've experienced it. It's cut
as it's revealed to us the intents of our heart and our natural
state. Did it not cut you? When you
were born again, did the Word of God not cut you and reveal
to you what you are? It cut right to the soul, didn't
it? Right to the Spirit. It cut where no other sword can
cut. Right through. Right through. When we're born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, the sword of the Spirit cuts
right through us. And as we grow in the knowledge
and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it still cuts sometimes, doesn't
it? But it's for good for us. Yeah? It teaches us, doesn't
it? Oh, it does. And this sword, this sword right
here, the sword of the Spirit, is unlike any sword that's ever
been in existence. Now think of this. Swords that
are made by men can cut through flesh, and muscle, and some through
bones. But this sword right here, beloved,
cuts right to the soul. Cuts right to the soul. Cuts
to the spirit. Cuts, again, where no other sword
can cut. And it's quick. And it's powerful. And it's sharper than any two-edged
sword. And it cuts. The scriptures proclaim,
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints
and marrow, and as discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. This is the sword of the Spirit,
and God wields this sword. God wields this sword. And we
proclaim the words from this blessed book, but it's God who
makes it effectual, isn't it? It's God who makes it cut. It's
Him who makes it cut to the soul. And again, this sword cuts where
no other can, to the soul and spirit. And there have been many
famous swords through the ages. I looked at 12 different famous
swords today, and I didn't bother naming them all, because they're
just famous swords that have been used through the ages. One
of them was William Wallace's sword, the Scottish Highlander. One of them was his, who fought
the English. And they had 12 famous swords.
They're famous swords, but all they could do is cut into man. Cut into the body. They couldn't
cut to the soul. They couldn't cut to the soul.
And these are swords spoken of with renown. But none compared to this sword
of renown. Right here. The Word of God. which is sharper than any sword
ever made. And this sword, beloved, it's
been tried and tested, hasn't it? It's a tried and tested sword. And it does not break. It does not fail. It's been tried
and tested through the ages. And God's people can look at
this book and we can see God's faithfulness all through it,
can't we? We can see God's faithfulness
to his people. We can see God protecting his
people. And just as when David picked
that sword up, it would have been a reminder for him of how
God defeated Goliath. We look at this book. We look
at this blessed book. And we're reminded, we're reminded
of God's sovereign will. We're reminded that our great
God is in full control, no matter what's going on in this world.
No matter what's going on. And we study this wonderful book.
When we study it, we're grasping the sword, beloved. When we witness
to others, we're using the scripture. We're wielding it, but only God
again. Only God can make it cut. Only God can make it effectual.
Only God can do that. We know in the armor of God we
have the sword of the Spirit, right? And we wield it. But it's
only Him who can make it good. It's only Him. That's why when
I say when you're witnessing to someone, give them scripture.
Just give them scripture. Don't give them your opinion.
Give them scripture. It's a factual. God will either use it to harden
them or God will use it to soften them. But His word will not return
unto Him void. So the believer can say, there's
no... About God's word. Just as David
said about Goliath's sword, there's none like that. There's none
like that. We say, give it to me. Let me
read it. Let me hold it. Lord, give me
understanding. Comfort my heart. And what do we see through this
blessed book? Who do we see in this blessed book? The Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. As God,
the Holy Spirit, illuminates the scripture and teaches us
and guides us to all truth, we find the Lord Jesus Christ. We
find Him who is full of grace and truth. And we can say that
this book is like no other book. It's like no other book. There's
millions of books that's been written. There's no book like
this book. None. And when we consider the
subject of this glorious book, Acts 10.43 says this, to Him,
being Jesus Christ our Lord, gave all the prophets witness.
All these Old Testament prophets gave witness to Christ. Someone's
coming. And the New Testament says He's
come. He's come. God promised a Messiah, didn't
he? And he came. God himself. God incarnated in
the flesh. All the prophets give witness
to Christ. And the written word powerfully
gives testimony to the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ. God incarnated in the flesh.
It gives testimony to his person, doesn't it? He's the subject
of this book. Now, you've got religious people
out there trying to take this book and they use it as a manual
for Christian living. Right? Don't they? They do. Try
to tell you how to live your life. Well, this book does guide
us and direct us, doesn't it? It does tell us how to live.
But who does it point us to? Christ. Christ. And when we have
our eyes upon Him, that's what we need. And if we have our eyes
on Him, we'll be sensitive about things in our lives, won't we?
The love of Christ constrains us. The love of Christ. Consider the testimony of this
book to the person of Christ. Consider the testimony of this
book to the work of Christ. The great work of redemption.
That was His whole mission in coming here, wasn't it? to come
to this earth was to redeem his people from their sins. To save
sinners. To save sinners. We looked at,
Paul said, I'm chief. We as believers say, I'm chief
too. Don't we? Oh my. And I just thank God that
he came to save sinners. Don't you? This book testifies
of his great work as our surety. It testifies of His great work
as our substitute. It testifies of His great work
as our Redeemer. It testifies of who He is. God
incarnate in the flesh. Consider the effects of His word.
Turn if you would to James chapter 1 verse 18. James chapter 1 verse
18. The effects of His word. Of His own will begot He us.
Verse 18, James chapter 1, verse 18. Of His own will. So it's God's will for His people
to be born again. It's God's will. It's God's will
for His people to come to Christ. Man likes to boast about his
will, but here we see mention of God's will. Man's will is
in bondage to his nature. Of his own will begot he us,
so we're born again by the Holy Spirit. With what? The word of
truth. The sword of the Spirit. The
sword of the Spirit, beloved. That we should be a kind of first
fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved, Brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak, and slow to
wrath. For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God. But notice that, of his own will,
begat he what with the word of truth, the sword of the Spirit,
beloved. The sword of the Spirit. May the Holy Spirit reveal to
us the precious truth in this blessed book right here before
us. that we as believers may grow in grace and that we as
believers as we study and hear the gospel preached may behold
our precious Savior. Is there anyone else you want
to hear about? When I sit and listen to a message,
I want to hear about Christ. I want to hear about what He's
done for me, a sinner. Saved by His grace. Is it so
with you? This is what we want to hear. Tell me more. Tell me
the old, old story. It never gets old. It never gets
old. Tell me again and again and again
what Christ has done for me. Tell me again that Christ died
on Calvary for me. Tell me again that Christ left
heaven for me. And oh, tell me again that he
waits for me in glory right now, and he will call me home when
it's his time for me to be there. And he keeps me right now. Tell
me again and again and again. Oh, may the Spirit reveal to
us the precious truths in this book. May we be given eyes to
see and ears to hear the Lord Jesus Christ each time we study
or hear the wonderful words of this book preached. And may we
desire, as Peter said, as babes, the sincere milk of the word.
Why? That we may grow thereby. We're all growing in grace. Not
one of us has arrived. We all desire to grow in the
grace and knowledge and truth of our Savior. Oh my, and then
when He takes us home, we'll just behold Him. The second point I'd like us
to consider in light of the words in our text where David said,
there is none like that, give it me. There's none like that
in regards to His salvation, God's salvation. There's none
like that. And the believer says, give it
to me, give it to me, give it to me. When we're made willing, we say
that, don't we? When we're made willing by God's power and the
day of God's power, when we're born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, this precious truth is revealed to us that Christ is
the only way to God. And that salvation is in no other.
And we flee to Him. We cry out for mercy, don't we?
We cry out for mercy. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. We're not looking around at other
folks. We're looking to our Savior and crying for mercy. And you
know, we never stop doing that as believers. Do we? We keep coming to the Lord. We
keep coming to Him. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
four. What does the scripture declare about salvation in Christ
alone? What does the scripture declare?
Now, we know there's many other religions out there, don't we?
But what does the scriptures declare? And this is the sword
of the spirit. This is this is the word of God. This is the
book that's being authored by God. Holy, holy men of God wrote
this book, and they're only made holy because they're in Christ.
Let's let's let's bring that right out to just as we're only
made holy in Christ. Look at Acts chapter 4, verses 10 to 12. Be it known unto you all, and
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you all. Now remember,
this is right after the man at the gate called Beautiful had
been healed. And that man went into the temple, he was leaping
and jumping and praising God, wasn't he? A miracle had happened. And it says here that they testified
that it's only by Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom He crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by Him that this man stand
here before you all. This is the stone which was set
at Nod of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Is there salvation in any other? Now that's pretty clear, isn't
it? But you know, you don't believe
that unless God reveals Christ to you. Aren't you thankful he revealed
Christ to you, you who believe? Aren't you thankful we can look
at that verse and go, amen? Neither is there salvation in
any other that includes right there. When they say any other,
that means no one else. None, there's salvation nowhere
else but Christ. And that's why we can apply these
words that there's none like that. There's none like that. There's no salvation that people
proclaim in their supposed works that is a salvation like, there's
no salvation in any other. Those are all refuges of lies
that people build up. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So
it's stated doubly here. Neither is there salvation in
any other because there's no other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. God is only pleased with
Christ and his work. And every repentant sinner, every
blood-bought saint of God has been taught of God and knows
that salvation is based on God's grace and God's grace alone. And contrast this to the false
salvation that religion and other false ways teach men. They're
always telling you what you have to do to merit salvation. So
let us ponder this precious truth at our salvation. was totally
purposed, purchased by Christ alone. And the scripture there
declares there's salvation in no other. No other. He appeared once in the end of
the world to put away sin. How? By the sacrifice of himself. By the sacrifice of himself.
There's no other atonement that God will accept. None. There's
no other sacrifice God will accept. There's no other redeemer that
God will accept. None. Salvation's in Christ,
in Christ alone. All those Old Testament sacrifices
could never take away sin, but our Lord, by what he did once,
once, put away the sins of all his people. By his death upon Calvary's cross,
his one time sacrifice upon Calvary's cross, as a substitute of his
people, has saved his people from their sins. Without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. What does
the Lord do? Sheds his blood. Sheds his blood for his people. There's none like that, is there?
There's none like that. So we're told to look outside
of ourselves for salvation. Religion tells you to look inside. You gotta do this, you gotta
do that. But the scripture says all my works are like filthy
rags. But the preacher says, look to
Christ. Look to him and live. Look outside
yourself. Look to the bleeding sacrifice. Look to the dying substitute,
the God. who willingly gave his life up,
didn't he? He gave up the ghost, he willingly
gave up his life. He's sinless. He willingly gives his life up
to redeem his people from their sins. So this great salvation
is like no other supposed salvation. This is a great salvation. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. So I ask you, is there any salvation
like this? No. Because there's salvation
only in Christ, right? Look what it says here in Hebrews
chapter 2. And how men scoff Christ and turn away from Him in their natural
state. And we did it too. God was long-suffering
with us, wasn't He? He really was. Look what it says though here
in chapter 2, verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? How will one escape the wrath
of God? if they neglect salvation in
Christ? How will one escape the demands of the law of God
if they neglect Christ? They won't. They will neither
escape the wrath of God or the law of God. And the law of God
will be satisfied, either in the sinner or in the saint. either
in the sinner or the substitute. And this is why the believer
says there's none like this salvation.
There's none. The gospel proclaims salvation
in Christ alone. It says there, how shall we escape
if we neglect the great salvation which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.
The gospel proclaims salvation in Christ alone. It is a declaration
of salvation by grace. By the grace of God through Christ
alone. The God man. And it's called
a great salvation there. In Hebrews 2.3 it's called great
salvation. It's a declaration. When we preach
the gospel, we're declaring the great one. The great salvation
which has been wrought out by Christ, and it's called a great
salvation because of who is the author of this salvation. And the author of it is God.
It's been confirmed by miracles and attended with great power.
And it speaks of the greatness of our Savior, doesn't it? It speaks of the greatness of
His precious promises. Because this salvation, this
gospel which we proclaim, proclaims that all the promises of God
are fulfilled in Christ. And this great salvation is like
no other because it's wrought by a great person. God incarnate
in the flesh. The great one, who is the great
God? Who is our great Savior? The
Lord Jesus Christ. And let us remember this. This
salvation is called a great salvation because it came at a great price.
Didn't it? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
was shed. To purchase the salvation for
us. at a great price. It's come at
the expense of the blood and life of the Son of God. And this is free salvation, beloved.
This is a salvation wrought out by another. The Lord Jesus Christ
for all His people. And the believer in Christ, we've
been taught that we can do nothing to deserve or gain God's favor.
We've been taught that. And God only sees merit in the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of God's demands for
the salvation of His people have been fulfilled in Christ. They're
fulfilled in Him. And God, by His grace and mercy,
has given us faith to believe, hasn't He? He's given us faith
to believe upon Christ. And this is given to us. We who
are His people. And it's all according to His
mercy. All according to His mercy. all according to His grace. When
His mercy and grace came to us, we were dead in trespasses and
sins. And now we're made alive. Now
we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And beloved, like
Paul said, we've obtained mercy, haven't we? And then through
Christ alone. The third point I'd like us to
consider In light of these words, which David said, there's none
like that, give it me, is the righteousness which Christ provides
for his elect can truly be said to be like no other. Like no
other. Our natural righteousness could
not justify us, could it? Our righteousness is like filthy
rags in the eyes of the Lord. We must be clothed in Christ's
perfect spotless righteousness, which is what? It's like no other.
It's the righteousness of a sinless The sinless one. Contrast how
Christ is like no other. We are sinners. We're born sinners. He's born sinless. And He is
sinless in His life and in His death. We've all disobeyed God. Every
one of us. Countless amounts of times. You
know He obeyed God in everything? And he did it for us as our substitute
to fulfill all righteousness. We've all disobeyed God, and
he obeyed God in all things. We are unrighteous in ourselves.
He's perfect righteousness. He's perfect righteousness. There's
no other righteousness like the one he provides. Turn, if you
would, to Romans chapter four, Romans chapter four. And then
we'll go to Romans eight right after that. Romans chapter four. There's no righteousness like
the one he provides for his elect. Look at this in Romans chapter
four, verse six. There's no righteousness like
this, because as I said, we're sinners, right? And we know that
our righteousness is just, we can't even stand in God's presence
in our own righteousness. Look at this in Romans 4, verses
6 and 7, even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man.
If you're a believer, this is speaking of you. This is speaking
of me. The blessed of man unto whom
God imputed righteousness without works. Without works! I'm made righteous without my
works! See? It's His work. We're made righteous because
of His work. because of his work in his life, fully obeying the
law of God in our place, and in his death, dying before God's
law and justice, satisfying God's law and justice for us. We're
clothed in the righteousness of another. Even as David also
described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed
righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. We are covered in the righteousness
of Christ, beloved. We are clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And therefore the blood-bought,
redeemed believer cries out with David about this righteousness. There is none like that. Give
it me. Give it me. Lord, give me this righteousness,
we cry, that I may be justified. And we await that glorious day
when we will be glorified We patiently wait in hope, don't
we? Turn, if you would, to Romans 8. We patiently wait in hope. And who is the object of our
hope? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the object of our hope.
He's the object of our hope. Look at Romans 8, verses 24 and
25. For we are saved by hope, but
hope that is seen is not hope. So if you see something, you're
not hoping for it. You see it. But if you don't
see something, and you're hoping for it, right? We haven't seen
Christ yet, but we're hoping. We hope in Him, don't we? And we know one day our faith
will become sight. Will become sight. We are saved
by hope and our hopes in Christ, but hope that is seen is not
hope for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if
we hope for that we see not. Oh, we do, don't we? Then we
do with patience, wait for it. Don't we wait until the day the
Lord calls us home? Oh, what a glorious day that'll
be for the believer. The last point I'd like us to
consider in light of this text, there is none like that given
me, is the faith that God gives to his people. The faith that
God gives to his people is like no other. Now, a lot of people
say they have faith, don't they? They say, oh, I have faith. And
a lot of people have faith in different things, right? Some
people have faith in their strength, some people have faith in their
intellect, some people have faith in their riches, or they trust
in those things. People put faith in all kinds
of things. People put faith in one another too, don't they?
They do. We put faith in one another sometimes.
But the person that's trusting in anything other than Christ,
the person that has put their faith for their soul in their
own things is trusting in a refuge of lies. The faith that God gives,
beloved, is saving the faith. It's saving faith. It's God-given
faith. It's God-given faith. And it
has one object. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 11. This faith has one object. One
object that this faith, this God-given faith, has one object
that it's focused upon. You ever hear people say, I have
faith in my faith? I've heard people say that. They talk to
you sometimes, and they're trusting more in their faith than they
are in Christ. Well, they're not trusting in Christ, they're
trusting in something that they did. But our faith has an object,
and that's Christ, and Christ alone. He's the one that our
faith focuses upon. We look to Christ because he's
the one who saves us. We don't trust in our faith,
we trust in the object of our faith. being Christ, being Christ. Faith is a gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Look at Hebrews 11.6. Do you
know that without faith, without this God-given faith, it is impossible
to please God? Look at Hebrews 11.6. But without
faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. Turn over one more chapter. One
more chapter over in Hebrews 12. The Scriptures declare the
one who is the object of the believer's faith. Hebrews 12,
verses 1 and 2. Wherefore, seeing we are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us." Look at this,
looking unto Jesus. Our faith has one object, and
it's Christ. We don't look to what we're doing,
do we? We don't look to what we do,
we look to Christ. Looking unto Jesus, look at this,
the author, he begins it, and the finisher of our faith. Finisher
of our faith. Who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. God's blood-washed saints, we
live by faith, don't we? And we live by faith looking
to Christ, looking to Christ, looking to He who is the object
of our faith. And this faith is not a product
of the creature, is it? So many religious folks, you
just gotta have faith. Or this has happened because
you don't have enough faith. That's just a lie from the pit of hell,
beloved. I despise it when I hear those
kind of things. God's blood-bought saints live
by faith, and we go through trials and tribulations, but this faith
is not the product of the creature. I can't muster it up. I can't
muster it up. This faith is a sovereign gift
of God. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 2. It's a sovereign gift of God. It's a sovereign gift
of the Creator. It's a sovereign gift from the
King of the universe. The sovereign ruler of all. And
this gift He gives to whomever He pleases. And if you're a believer, rejoice.
Rejoice. Because He doesn't give this
gift to everyone. He gives this gift to His people. Look at Ephesians
2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace He is saved through
faith. And again, the object of our
faith is Christ. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. He gives it to us, beloved. It
flows from His hands. It's a gift of God. Not of works. You can't earn it. And nothing
you can do will cause Him to give it to you. This is a gift. Freely and sovereignly given. Let us take that home, that we
who have received this gift have been given it from the hand of
our sovereign God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. We boast in Christ. We don't
boast about what we've done. You listen to religious people,
they boast about having made a decision or walking the Nile
or something they did. We don't do that. We say, God
has had mercy on me. God has saved my soul. And so the believer cries out,
there's none like that. Give it to me. Lord, grant me
faith. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. We cry out for mercy, don't we?
Just as the publican cried out. Remember the Pharisee and the
publican? Remember the Pharisee? Oh, I thank God I'm not like
that man over there. I do this and I do that. So full
of self-righteousness. And there's the publican. He
won't even lift his head. He says, God, be merciful to
me. We cry out for mercy and praise
God that God grants faith. God grants faith. He gives faith
to his people, and it's all by his sovereign grace. And then
we walk by faith. Not by sight. Resting and trusting
our Lord and Savior. the object of our faith as we
walk through this world and we rejoice in this truth, don't
we? And we who are born again, we
who have received this wondrous gift of faith. Can say there's
none, none like this. They're not like this given. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for Thy mercy and grace. Oh, we thank Thee for the precious
salvation that we have in and through Thee, Lord Jesus. There
is no salvation outside of Thee. And it's a wondrous, great salvation
because of who You are, Lord. And we who are your blood-bought
people, we marvel that you have saved us. We marvel that you
have granted us faith. We marvel that you have clothed
us in thy righteousness. And we marvel that you have purchased
us with thy own precious blood and that you gave your life for
us, you who are God incarnate in the flesh. May we who are
your blood-bought people leave here rejoicing in this wondrous
truth, and we pray that you would give us opportunities, O Lord,
through the week at our work, that you would open up doors
of utterance for us and allow us to speak these wondrous things,
which you have done for us. Redemption through thy blood,
justification by thy work, by the great salvation by you who
are our great substitute. Oh Lord, let us leave here rejoicing. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.